Padres' Ron Fowler: 'Perception' Was MLB, MLBPA Were 'Urinating on One Another'

San Diego Padres co-owner Ron Fowler opened up about the tense negotiations between the MLB owners and players association as they tried to reach an agreement on a plan for the 2020 season. 

Appearing on 97.3 The Fan's Ben & Woods in San Diego, Fowler said the "perception" was that both sides were "urinating on one another."

The MLB owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association went through months of haggling with the hope of arriving at a common ground to salvage something resembling a normal season during a pandemic. 

After the two sides combined to exchange eight different offers, commissioner Rob Manfred implemented a 60-game season that will begin Thursday. 

Manfred told ESPN's Mike Greenberg on Wednesday that the union's "decision to end good faith negotiations" made him less confident there would be a 2020 season. 

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said in a statement that same day that players are "disgusted" on Manfred going back on his original statement that there would definitely be a season and said any implications that the union was delaying progress on establishing health and safety protocols "completely false."

Fowler noted the two sides never "found common ground, literally, on anything" during their talks. 

"Nobody took anybody on face value when things were said, and it deteriorated into something that was not good for baseball," the 77-year-old added. 

Even though there appears to be a lot of work ahead to repair relations between the owners and players, the 2020 MLB season is set to begin Thursday with a doubleheader featuring the New York Yankees vs. Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers.